Brr! Did the last snowstorm convince you that winter has not loosened its icy grip on the Twin Cities quite yet? It seems assured that March will lion in and lamb out, but the Twin Cities housing market is not expected to show the same pattern, as sales continue to climb upward when compared to last year's numbers.
Since December 2008, pending sales for the Twin Cities housing market have continued to outperform the same week for the prior year. For the week ending February 21, pending sales are up 12.4 percent vs. last year at this time. Deep freeze or not, buyers are showing a willingness to brave the temperatures for a deal.
New listings checked in at 1,558, which is 15 percent below 2008. Active listings are off from last year by about 4,000 (or 13.7 percent fewer) homes. Warmer weather tends to coincide with more activity, so we'll be watching new and active listings with much interest over the next few months.
Another number to watch is the Supply-Demand Ratio (SDR). This figure, representing how many homes are available per buyer, is down 21.8 percent to 6.38 homes per buyer compared to last year. That's now nine months in a row of lowered year-over-year SDR. With fewer active listings and a shrinking SDR, sellers may begin to feel some easement from the buyer's market wedge. It's too early to tell, but as many of our REALTOR® members are telling us, the increase in foot traffic is palpable.
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